Pulling back

14 October 2014

Over the past couple of months the internet has been a hard place to be, in some ways. Twitter is a part of it, but for me, the whole thing has been difficult. Erin wrote up her reaction to Twitter changing and what she’s doing. There have been a lot of other discussions going on as well. In addition, more people are starting Tiny Letters, as a way to put thoughts out there in a different way.

For me, Twitter hasn’t been an awful place, but I have always done a lot to make it easier for me, such as using a third party client and mute the heck out of certain words and phrases and whatever else I just can’t handle seeing more of on a particular day. BUT, the internet as a whole has been really hard for me, I’m the type of person that gets sucked into things and boy, has there been a lot to get sucked into lately. I can find myself going down rabbit holes that aren’t helpful or good for me to go down. This isn’t to say that what’s happening isn’t awful or to dimish it, it’s just to say that it’s difficult for me, emotionally, to be so caught up.

So, I’ve pulled back a bit. I have decided that this site is where I want my energy to go, so I’ll keep posting my thoughts here, links to things I find interesting, and the occasional photo that I take. I’ve gone back to RSS as a way to see what’s going on with various folks and I’m enjoying the newsletters people are doing, such as Mandy’s Tiny Letter.

In addition, I don’t have Twitter on my iPad now, so I may check for DMs or ats on there, but I have to do it through Safari (which Twitter runs terribly on, btw, so you don’t really want to stay on there). So I don’t check or use Twitter a lot on evenings and weekends, because I’m not on my computer. And when I wake up in the morning, I scroll to the top. No reading it all anymore. Beyond that, I’m participating in smaller, some private, communities. I’m drawing in Mix, and I have a Slack room with friends, where I can chat/vent/get feedback and it’s been great.

What’s been hard for me about all this is that Twitter has been one of the ways in which I’ve met and made some awesome friends (some of which I still have yet to meet in person). I know I wouldn’t be where I am with my work were it not for Twitter. It’s sad that so many people are pulling back, leaving altogether, or taking breaks, but I understand. To be honest, I want to create a Slack room for all my favorite Twitter people I miss (because they aren’t around or I’m not around at the right times) so I can still get their thoughts into my world, because their thoughts have changed how I think and work in ways I can’t even describe.